Episode 27 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the programme.

If you've ever tried to buy a house and then

got caught in a dreaded property chain,

-you'll know what a nightmare it can be.

-Yeah.

So, how can you avoid that kind of situation?

Ah, well, one way is to buy your next home under the hammer.

Well, people go to the auctions with all sorts of budgets,

looking for many different kinds of property.

Yes, there is an enormous choice available,

so let's see what today's buyers bid for.

At this three-bed end-terrace in Staffordshire,

something big has got to give.

This is a big old wall,

but wouldn't it be great if you could take that out?

Talking of big changes, there are plenty in store for this

abandoned house in Surrey,

changes that weren't planned from the outset.

And there is good news and bad news, once I find the bathroom,

in this Cumbrian mid-terrace.

Well, it is upstairs, which is good,

but it is accessed through a bedroom.

All these properties have been sold at auction,

and we'll find out who bought them and what they paid for them

when they went under the hammer.

Today, I am in the village of Tittensor,

near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

A commuter haven with lovely views, it has a local shop

and post office, a church, as well as easy access to the A34.

Well, right at the heart of the village,

is the property that I am here to see.

And very grand it's looking, too.

I say that because of its position -

a nice elevated one overlooking the hills.

A three-bed, end-terrace.

At a guide price of £85,000 plus, let's take a look.

It really is quite an idyllic setting, overlooking the fine,

roaming Staffordshire countryside.

OK, nice little entrance, porch area there.

Somewhere to put your coats and stuff like that.

Always useful to have. And then into the main part of the house.

Stairs up to your bedrooms there.

Front sitting room, decent size, over that way.

All in all, it is not looking to be in bad condition.

Through to a rear sitting room.

It feels a little bit cramped, this, though. Um... Hm.

Through there, you've got your kitchen.

That's not a bad space, but... Hm.

I wonder if this... I mean, it's a big old wall.

But wouldn't it be great if you could take that out and create a

really nice-sized, open-plan kitchen and kind of like living area?

That works really well in a modern family house. A lot of work, though.

But it might be worth it.

And if things are a bit cramped downstairs,

I'm guessing the story upstairs will be the same.

So, up here, what have we got? Well, three bedrooms.

A slightly smaller one there.

A half decent sized one there,

with an interesting little cubbyhole in it.

Cubbyhole, sort of storage room thing,

with that beautiful round window.

I'd certainly want to make more of that.

In fact, the whole layout is just a little bit... Well, it's...

It's different to what I've seen before, partly in here.

The bathroom, it's not a bad size.

It has got a little area there for the shower cubicle,

which does actually work quite well.

But the way it's built into the sort of upstairs corridor here,

with these cupboards and things, I don't know.

It's one of these ones where you may play around with that or not,

really. I think you could probably live with that as it is.

And the bedrooms... Another one at the back here,

again, a half-decent size.

There's just a couple of tweaks I'd do to the layout.

But all in all, it is a good house. It is a great house.

I do like the house, the only question is,

to tweak or not to tweak?

If I was going to live here, I'd tweak. But if this is for rental,

then maybe it wouldn't be worth your while.

One to ponder, I think.

So, out the back of the property,

not exactly a huge amount of space, but a few useful bits and pieces.

I particularly like this brick-built outbuilding.

Maybe even expand that and turn it into a little workshop

or somewhere, I don't know, like a home office?

Other than that, it's all primarily laid to concrete.

You've got a little shed.

Um, good news, though, I suppose if you rented this place out,

it is very low-maintenance.

Cos tenants don't often sort the garden out.

The garden is certainly no trouble to look after.

And this house, in fact, demonstrates pretty well that

houses bought at auction don't necessarily mean trouble.

This is a pretty nice house in a nice location,

and you really could get by

with just decorating and modernizing it a bit.

Does our local estate agent agree with me?

It's a real opportunity for somebody if they wanted to come in

and put her own stamp on it in terms of kitchen,

bathrooms, cosmetics, central heating.

So, it is a real good sort of property with a lot of scope

and potential.

We're agreed, then.

But can the agent see any downsides to this property?

Probably the only downside for the family-market perspective,

you've got to look at the size of the garden.

The garden isn't massive, unfortunately.

I suppose that is another way of looking at the garden.

It is a bit small for a swing and a slide.

But that aside,

what could the potential resale value of the house be?

I think, subject to condition, I think

you've got to look at a resale value of about £125,000.

And if you were to rent this out,

how would it fare in the rental stakes?

I think once the property is done to a good standard,

I think you'd be looking at £550 per calendar month.

Well, a few layout issues to resolve,

but intrinsically, a good, solid little house.

Let's see who bought it when it went under the hammer.

Three bedrooms, two reception rooms, nice village location

and open aspect.

So what should we say for Lot 61?

Can we start in at 78? Lot number 61.

Yep, 78 bid, thank you. It is £78,000. 80 can I say now?

At £78,000. Yes, 80.

81? 81.

82? 82.

83. 84.

At £84,000, then. Going to the back wall at £84,000.

85 anywhere else?

At £84,000, then, are we all done?

At £84,000, then, for the first time...

At £84,000 for the second time...

Third and final time at £84,000.

Missed you, sorry, 85.

At 85.

86? 86.

87? No?

At £86,000 on the back wall, then.

Are we all done now? At 86...

Back in, 87. At 87,000. 88?

No? At £87,000, seated to the right, then.

At £87,000, all done now?

At £87,000, then, for the first time...

At £87,000 for the second time...

Third and final time at £87,000, are we all done?

You bought it, sir, well done.

The lot came up towards the end of the auction,

but clearly there were some bidders with staying power.

Bob got it for £87,000.

He runs his own mirror manufacturing company, and I met him back

at the house to find out what had made this property shine for him.

-Bob, great to meet you.

-And you.

-Congratulations.

Thank you very much.

-Um, good, solid little house.

-It is. Definitely.

Tell me why you wanted to buy it.

Because I am local here, in this area.

I passed it every day on the way to work,

so I thought, "Hm, I'll have a look at that."

-And when I had a look at it, I decided that that is for me.

-Yeah.

I'll put this into the portfolio.

Into the portfolio, that sounds exciting.

-How big is your portfolio?

-Small, small. This will be the third.

-OK.

But when did you start it?

-Couple of years ago.

-OK.

So, what was it about this property that attracted his attention?

It didn't have a tremendous amount wrong with it.

It's the norm - rip out the kitchen,

rip out the bathroom,

thorough decoration all the way through

-and we'll knock out the wall that is standing behind you.

-Right.

-The fairly substantial-looking wall behind me.

-It is. Yeah, yeah.

But I have got a substantial hammer.

THEY LAUGH

And is it you wielding that hammer or do you have people to do it?

I've got some people to help, but I do the exciting bit.

-Which is the bit...?

-Which is the demolition part.

-Really?

-Yeah. That's...that's the good bit.

-Is it? OK.

If Bob can remove the wall and chimney, I think

it will make a huge difference. But he will have his work cut out.

# I came in like a wrecking ball

# I never hit so hard in love

# All I wanted was to break your walls

# All you ever did was

# You wrecked me. #

It turns out that Bob developed his passion for demolition in quite

an unusual way.

In my early 20s,

I decided to emigrate to South Africa.

-Right.

-And I became a gold miner.

-A gold miner?!

-Correct.

-Tell me more!

-So I've demolished quite a few things in my time.

-What, with explosives and stuff?

-Exactly, yeah.

And what did being a gold miner entail?

Um...

You...you had approximately 100, 150 workers under your control.

-And you actually extracted ground out of the earth.

-Right.

-And from that, they subtracted gold.

-So, was it underground stuff?

-It was far underground.

-Far underground.

-Oh, yeah.

-It was two and half miles underground.

-Good grief!

-Terribly hot.

-Yeah.

-Terribly sweaty.

-How long did you do that for?

-12 years.

-Right, and then came back to the UK?

-Correct.

-And now you are mining for gold in a different way.

-In a different way.

-Gosh, I bet your fireworks parties are a laugh.

-They are.

THEY LAUGH

-# Gold!

-Gold...

Explosive stuff - dynamite, demolition and dust.

Bob's not going to flinch at some DIY.

# You're indestructible

# Always believe in

# Cos you are gold! #

He's got his eye on other things besides walls in his plans.

-Well, the bathroom is rather unusually shaped.

-Mm-hmm.

-But it works!

-But it works.

But what I intend to do is to rip out the door

and then bring it forward, so we'll make the bathroom half a metre wider.

-What is the budget for the works?

-Probably £11,000.

-OK, that is very precise.

-Yes. Um...

I've done it a couple of times before, so I've kept all my figures.

And other than a bit of demolition work,

it is going to be relatively the same.

All we've got to do is, we've just got to rip out

the floorboards up above to see that...

When you say words like rip, I'm thinking...

HE IMITATES A CHAIN SAW

-"Hang on a minute."

-That'll be simple.

Boom!

Check that the joists are running straight through

-instead of just sitting on top of this chimney breast.

-Mm-hmm.

If they don't, then obviously, we'll have to attend to that.

But the chimney breast is coming out. And then we have got a kitchen-diner.

THEY LAUGH

Bob isn't in a rush, he has a 12-week schedule for the work,

and I'm sure that's as precisely worked out as the budget.

There's no doubt he has already worked out the return for this

new addition to his portfolio.

-And what's the plan for it? Is it to rent it out?

-Rent it out.

-Do you know what you might get back?

-Close to 600.

-OK.

-That's a reasonable return on investment.

-Very good.

-So, after this one, then, more plans for more?

-Yeah.

-It's going all right?

-Yeah, it is.

-Well, listen, congratulations.

-Thanks for sharing, that was an amazing story.

-Thanks very much.

Go easy. And I look forward to seeing how you get on.

Thank you very much.

So, a good property.

Will Bob strike gold when it comes to sorting it out, though?

You can find out later in the show.

Well, it is possible to strike gold in the property game,

but sometimes you have to be prepared to bide your time.

We first visited a house here,

in Morden, Surrey, in the spring of 2013.

# More than this

# You know there's nothing... #

Today, I've taken a turn off the main drag and, well,

everything suddenly feels a lot more rural.

Or should I say overgrown?

As I try and track down our property.

Now, it is a detached two-storey house.

It had guide price of £145,000. There it is!

Now, usually, I would head inside, I'd have a look around,

but all the windows and the doors have been blocked up,

so I can't get in.

The property was unloved and abandoned,

but it was on .18 acres of land.

Now, that is an amazing find in an area of Surrey that is close

enough to Central London to be on the Tube line.

# You can treat me dirty

# From a soul

# That's been abused. #

Well, the house has certainly seen better days,

and it looks extremely derelict from the outside.

I can only imagine what works it requires on the inside. Lots!

Now, it does, however, sit on a really nice, large,

rectangular plot of land.

Now it is overgrown at the moment,

but I think this land could be the real selling feature here.

So, what are your options? Well, I think you actually have a couple.

You could renovate the existing house

and think about extending it or you could demolish and rebuild.

Personally, I think demolition is the way to go,

as the existing house needs so much repair work.

What could you build?

Well, I know this is a popular family spot, so I think a

lovely, new three-bedroom house would work really well here.

But hang on a minute, I'm not just talking about one house.

The size of this plot, it's making me think big.

I think you could fit two, three or even four properties on this site.

Not bad for £145,000.

But let's not get too excited just yet, as there are plenty of

hoops to jump through before you can build your lovely new houses here.

And there is no guarantee that the local council will grant you

planning permission.

And this process can take plenty of time and money.

The planners will consider aspects such as parking provision,

how well the planned properties will fit into their surroundings

and also the privacy from the neighbouring houses.

Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go

until this really can be used as a building plot.

# Cos you got a long way to go

# It's not that deep, take it easy

# You wanna please me You got a long way to go

# Yeah, I said you got a long way to go.

# Rock with me now. #

A little scout around this site has thrown up a whole

lot of exciting options.

Let's see who felt this lot was worth fighting for

when went to the auction.

Not surprisingly, for a property this close to London with land,

bidding at the auction was brisk, to say the least.

274. 275.

276.

277.

278.

279.

280.

281.

282.

282.

281, first-time...

Second time...

Third and last time, have you all done?

Sold, 281. Sorry, the other bidders.

So, at almost twice the guide price,

the property was bought by Yayin for £281,000.

Yayin was at the auction with his friend

and fellow property developer, Andrew.

They offer each other support on projects

and they both come along to tell us what they had planned.

Guys, congratulations.

What was it about the site that you liked so much?

Well, it was because it was quite a big site, where we

have had preliminary drawings done on it,

and I can see that they can have four dwellings that go on it.

That was a goer for me more than anything else.

So, when I first arrived at this site, I was like,

"It's amazing, it's quiet, it's like the countryside."

It is beautiful, you can't hear a thing.

Until the train goes crashing past.

# The railroad cuts through the middle of the house

# The railroad cuts through the middle of the house

# It comes and goes through the middle of the house

# And the trains are all on time

# And here comes... #

But Yayin planned for the noise of the trains by specifying triple

glazing - just one of the factors in his £800,000 development budget.

But with a sales valuation of 1.25 million,

I knew it was important to get planning permission.

So, what did the council say?

Had you had chats with them prior to this?

-No.

-No, we haven't, no.

That sums it up, no.

You are very relaxed about this.

So you haven't even had a chat with the local council about the site

and whether or not it would be a goer?

No, we haven't, but we have sort of formed an opinion with

the housing market and apparent housing shortage

in this area that there would not be too many problems.

And we have everything crossed there won't.

Who was it that said proper planning prevents pretty poor performance?

Well, it was certainly true here, because 11 months later,

the plot was still a building site.

So, what went wrong?

We went into planning for four houses, which was two sets of semis.

Which are perfect for the area.

We had a lot of objections from the neighbours,

saying that it is an overdevelopment.

End of the day, they said four is too much.

And the planners said, "Come back to us with two."

So, taking that into consideration, we went in with two,

and they said no to that as well.

So... Leaving us no choice but to renovate the existing house.

But I think we have done a good job of it.

So after going from four houses to just one,

the plan was to make that one house as high-spec and high-end as

possible to squeeze every drop of profit from the development.

You go back to the drawing board and just start again.

It will get us were want to be.

It was just not where we wanted to be originally.

So, what effect has all this had on Yayin's half a million pound

construction budget for the original four houses he'd hoped for?

At the moment, I think I am on 200 plus.

And I think by the time we'll be finished with everything,

we will be about 250 to 300.

Worst case then, Yayin saved £200,000 on his original

construction budget, but he will only have one house to sell.

When I bought it, I said to myself, "It's going to be a gamble."

You have just got to make sure that you've got reserve to

cover the unforeseen.

We'll return later in the show to find out how this one house

that should have been four turned out.

Coming up, the upstairs-downstairs Cumbrian conundrum.

It seems bigger up here than it is downstairs.

And we go back to Surrey to see how the house we featured

over a year ago finally finished up.

And find out what it is worth.

Back now to Tittensor, in Staffordshire,

to catch up with Bob, a former gold miner.

He was hoping he had struck gold by purchasing a three-bed,

mid-terrace for £87,000.

And he had definite plans to use his expertise in demolition.

-Knock out the wall that is standing behind you.

-Right.

-The fairly substantial-looking wall behind me.

-It is. Yeah, yeah.

But I've got a substantial hammer.

THEY LAUGH

Bob sent us some pictures of his handiwork.

He really did take Homes Under The Hammer quite literally,

making short work of the wall, the chimney breast and chimney.

But I think he's struck gold because it has made,

in my view, the best room in the house.

# They believe in me

# Cos I believe in you

# I need some company. #

Bob combined two small rooms into one big one,

and it has turned into a very hi tech space, a real centrepiece.

Not that the lounge hasn't been transformed, too. It has.

Also to the same high standard of finish.

Bob estimated 12 weeks for all the refurbishment work,

and it actually took more like 16.

There must have been some unforeseen problems.

After the auction, we started the refurb.

We removed all the wallpaper

and suddenly found that the plaster was in a terrible state.

£2,000 later,

we had refurbished the whole of the plaster work.

# They believe in me. #

The quality kitchen and re-plastering job

put Bob over budget. Instead of 11,

he ended up spending between £13,500 and £14,000.

# Electricity

# Do you feel eternal? #

But this overspend didn't deter Bob the builder.

He put his hard hat on and started work upstairs.

I love using the big hammer.

Next door to the bathroom, there was an airing cupboard,

which was not being used because we fitted a combi boiler.

So we installed the shower in what was originally the airing cupboard

and made the bathroom 2ft bigger.

We switched the toilet and the washing basin around.

Only the bath is remaining in the same position.

And it is now perfect.

Bob and a few friends did all the work on weekends,

apart from the specialist trades.

During the week, he works as MD

at a mirror manufacturing company,

and the property benefited from his specialist knowledge.

The thing that I am most pleased about is the way in which

we've utilized every little square inch of space,

including the secret wardrobe that nobody will notice

when they walk into the main bedroom, which is concealed by a mirror.

But if you touch the mirror on the side,

then it springs open and you've got a wardrobe.

So, as they say in the States, "Let's do the math."

Bob paid £87,000 at auction.

Worst case on the refurbishment budget was 14,000,

making a grand total of 101,000.

Was it worth it?

I'm very happy with what I paid for the property.

I'm happy with what I spent on it.

And it will be interesting to find out the valuation.

Well, let's do just that.

We invited two local estate agents along to check out the property

and give us their thoughts. And yes, Bob, the wait is over.

Valuations, too.

But first things first, initial impressions.

My first impressions are,

I'm very, very impressed with the finish

and with the work that has been done.

I think the owner has done a tremendous job in renovating

the property. It's done to a very high standard.

Re-plastered throughout, with good quality kitchens and bathrooms.

I think it is fantastic.

So, if they were selling it, what highlights will go in the brochure?

The main selling point for me is the size of the property.

It is very, very spacious.

And also the amount of money that the developer has spent doing

the place up. It is a very, very high-end finish.

I like the fact that he has knocked through the kitchen and the dining

room to make a modern kitchen-diner, which is very popular with families.

Anything they didn't like or would have done differently?

I would not have done anything differently internally.

The only slight negative I can see is that there isn't any

off-road parking.

The only thing that I would have perhaps done would have been

trying to provide off-road parking for any potential family purchasers.

We did consider dropping the curb,

but the expense in doing so at this present time

didn't warrant doing it straightaway.

This is a stunning transformation

and I think Bob's £101,000 has been well spent.

But will the agents agree?

If we were to market the property,

I would expect to achieve a figure in the region of £135,000.

We would recommend an asking price of £135,000.

I think that is a very, very accurate assumption.

Very pleased with that.

That would mean a potential profit of £34,000,

minus the usual taxes and expenses.

But Bob's preferred option is to rent.

If we were to let the property, I would anticipate a rental figure

in the region of £550 to £575 per calendar month.

We would recommend £550 to around about £575

per calendar month.

Yeah, that's bang on. That's what I was expecting.

Bob's looking at a 6.8% yield. Result!

I'm very pleased with the property on the whole.

I'm pleased with the outcome,

with the figure that the agents have given to us.

And I think that it has turned out really well.

It has turned out really well.

Oh, one thing I meant to ask,

what happened to that round window that I wanted to make a feature of?

Um... Unfortunately, we didn't make a feature of the round window.

It still looks great from the outside,

but unfortunately, that round window is now a cupboard.

Well, I'm not going to argue, I know what is behind Bob's success.

# If I had a hammer

# I'd hammer in the morning

# I'd hammer in the evening

# All over this land! #

This is Whitehaven, on the Cumbrian coast,

once a group of mining villages that came together to form a town.

And one of these villages, now a suburb, is Hensingham.

Well, one claim to fame for which Hensingham can be justifiably

proud is that it is home to the first NHS-built hospital

in the UK, opened by the Queen Mum herself in 1964.

There are other NHS hospitals, of course, but this one was the first

to be custom built after the creation of the NHS,

and heralded a new era.

Other major employers around here

include the Sellafield processing plant

and, being on the outskirts of the lakes, the tourist industry.

So, what brings me to these parts today?

Well, it is a two-bedroom, mid-terrace with a guide

price of £35,000 to £45,000. Quite a large bracket there.

It is either going to be really good or...not.

This is a fairly typical suburban street

from the turn of the 20th century,

with its reassuring ascending terrace and flat-fronted houses,

though most have been rendered to look a lot more modern.

Ah.

Well, it would have been nice to have a floor,

not generally regarded as an optional extra.

But it looks like someone has been an eager beaver

and a lot of the stripping out has been done.

And that is quite good

for seeing some of the potential problems.

And straightaway, look at the difference here, in between the

dry concrete and the plaster,

and this band of darker coloured cement.

Basically, that whole wall is damp.

And it looks like the same is true for a lot of these walls.

So, a damp proof course

is one of the first things you're going to have to invest in.

But a fairly standard layout.

Stairs in the middle there, leading up to the bedrooms.

And then through into your rear sort of reception area.

And look at this floor, wow!

Flagstone, natural, beautiful.

If you polish it a bit, it will be amazing.

The only slight problem is, I very much doubt,

like the rest of the property, there's any damp proof course here.

So beautiful though it is, the practicalities are,

it is probably going to have to come up and...

It probably won't go down again.

Whatever you do, don't forget, these stones are now worth a lot of money.

So, let's have a look upstairs.

So, upstairs, two bedrooms - one on that side and one...

That's weird, it seems bigger up here than it is downstairs.

How can that be?

But before I go downstairs again to work that one out,

let's check out the bathroom on the way.

Well, it's upstairs, which is good,

but it is accessed through a bedroom.

Which is bad.

And you can make your own judgments on the quality of the plastering.

And tiling.

Oh, and the fitting.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for ensuite bathrooms,

but when it is the only one in the house...

You get my meaning.

Well, the answer to that conundrum

of the bedrooms seeming bigger than the house is here,

because actually what you've got is a flying freehold.

Above me here is that bedroom.

Now, that does throw up all sorts of issues,

especially when it comes to the legal status of this area here.

So you do need to have it checked out by your solicitor

before you buy.

This two-bed terrace does need a fair bit of work, which is,

of course, already in progress.

But does that £35,000 to £45,000 guide price allow for a profit?

The auctioneer who sold the property has come to give us his thoughts.

This is a traditional, small, two-bedroom, terraced property.

You'd... You know,

the size is the size that you'd expect.

This obviously needs a complete refurbishment.

But, you know, once finished, it will be very popular.

Um... There are things, perhaps, that you might want to alter.

You know, you've got the...

It's quite common to have the bathroom off

the smaller back bedroom.

But there's room off the front bedroom to perhaps put an en-suite.

To give you the choice of bathrooms upstairs.

And once that's done, refurbished - new kitchen, new bathroom,

central heating, windows, new wall coverings, floor coverings.

I think it'll make a really tidy little house.

So, what value would he put on this property?

If this property was exposed to the resale market,

fully done up, good spec, I think it would be in the region of £85,000.

And if the new owner fully refurbishes this property,

what could the rental income be?

I think you could achieve in the region of £400 per calendar month.

Well, obviously, some work required to sort this place out,

but it really is that low guide price and potential yield

which makes this place a very interesting opportunity.

Let's see who agreed when it went under the hammer.

Situated in popular coastal town,

ideal for an investor or first-time buyer.

I'd like a bit on this one. Maybe a bit more than that.

£35,000 to £45,000.

Let's see 35.

30.

It's got to be worth £30,000.

30, you're in. One bid might get it.

At £30,000, then, for the first time.

At £30,000 for the second time...

31 here.

32. 33.

Thinking about it. With you at the rear at £32,000.

33. 34.

35.

Thinking about 35. With you at £34,000.

First time at 34...

Second time at 34...

Back in at 35.

36. Shake of the head.

With you at 35 on the right-hand side.

Are we all done? At £35,000. First time, then.

It's in the room, ladies and gentlemen. Second time.

Third and final time now, £35,000.

All done and all out.

Well, that's that. One of The Proclaimers.

Cheeky!

But that final bid of just £35,000 made by John

and Alan is certainly something to sing about.

# But I would walk 500 miles

# And I would walk 500 more... #

They didn't have to walk 500 miles either, as the friends are local,

and this is their first property development venture.

Alan and John plan to re-plaster, re-wire and re-plumb,

adding a new damp proof course and central heating system.

In fact, they're so keen, they've already put wooden packing

down by the back door and stripped the wallpaper to inspect the walls.

You've been busy already!

We've done a bit, yeah.

Just wanted to see what was involved to see how much it was going to cost,

you know. Without going too berserk.

-Better or worse than you thought?

-Bff...

-Technical term for...?

-I don't know what we expected, really.

-Right.

-Because we didn't view it before.

-You didn't view it before?

-No.

-Have you watched the show?

-Only about 1,000 times.

I've watched the programme and,

"How can people buy a property they haven't even viewed?"

And then we did. I live around the corner, I didn't know where it was.

I honestly... I'd never heard of this street.

-Alan's lived here his whole life and...

-I hadn't heard of it.

-So, you're from the area, you live very close by.

-Yeah, I do, yeah.

-And you bought a house in the street you didn't even know existed.

-Yep.

-Pretty much.

-Pretty much, yeah.

-Yeah. We had trouble finding it.

-You couldn't find it?

-You couldn't find the house you bought?

-Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

Well, that is a new one on me.

At least these two managed to find friendship

while working at a catalogue company.

-Break times became our chats about doing houses like these.

-That's it?

It took us six years to get there, mind, talking about it,

doing a lot of research on it.

And we just never had that jump in us to take it on.

-This is number one?

-Number one.

-So, years of research and planning.

-Six years.

-Honestly, yeah.

-And when it came down to it...

We didn't even... THEY LAUGH

We hadn't even seen the house we bought.

-I could see where that was leading to.

-It can only go up.

-It can only go up.

-Unfurnished, I would have paid 45 for this.

-Right.

-Not 35. So, honestly, I think we're a tad in front already.

-Yeah.

It is just going to be how much we make, really.

Without being overconfident, I really do think we've done well.

So, how is it between you? Are you doing this as a partnership?

-Is it 50-50, all in?

-Yeah.

-Sharing the responsibility and sharing the work?

-Absolutely, yeah.

Well, not sharing so much of the work.

-Can you imagine me doing more of it?

-Yeah.

-He's the brains.

Is that literally how it is going to work? You end up doing...?

Yeah, I'll do most of the work, John's more of the organising

and the brains behind the operation.

I'll mix the cement and find the ladders and things like that.

-How do you think it's going to work you guys working together?

-Great.

-We get on really well.

-We bounce off each other.

-Yeah, we do.

We've got similar interests and, you know, we really do get on well.

-I think he's one of my long-lost sons, but I don't know.

-Aw!

Everyone sees us on the streets and they say it's father and son.

They get a shock when we say we're not.

I see why they get mistaken for father and son,

but here's how the partnership will hopefully really work.

70-year-old John, who's retired, will provide the brains,

while the much younger Alan, who has got a full-time job,

will provide the brawn evenings and weekends.

Besides the work listed so far,

they're going to fit a new kitchen, knock down this lean-to

conservatory, tidy up the toilets at the end of the kitchen

and decorate.

Something tells me they might overrun their three-month timescale.

But there is good news on the bathroom front -

there's going to be a front bathroom.

-We're going to put an en-suite on the front bedroom.

-OK.

With a corner shower. We're going to put a corner shower in there.

And then the small bedroom with the en-suite is going to

stay as a bath, and then they've got the option of two.

Oh, wow. It sounds like you're doing this to a fairly high standard.

I think it is worth going the extra mile.

-I think it will make good money.

-How much do you plan to spend on it?

-I think up to about 15.

-Between ten and 15.

How much do you think you might get back if you were to resell it?

-Is that the plan, to resell it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Sell it back on.

I think we could get 85 maybe for it.

So potentially, 30-odd grand profit.

Yeah, could be great for our first one. I think we're very lucky.

-So, if this is a success, will you do other projects?

-Yes.

We'd like to do three a year, if that is not too ambitious.

-What would your ambition be, Alan?

-To do this full-time.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

As fast as we can... Able to go full-time, that's it.

Obviously, I've got a family of my own, so I can't go full-time

at the minute.

But as soon as I get the chance to do it, I'd love to.

Well, listen, congratulations to you both.

I really look forward to seeing how you transform it.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

So, Alan and John, embarking on their first property

development project together.

And breaking one of the golden rules

about buying at auction by not seeing the place beforehand.

However, it does seem like they've done OK in this instance.

And it is good to see the enthusiasm.

You can find out how they get on later in the show.

Time has passed and we are hoping that money has been well spent.

Yes, it would be great

if all those fine sounding plans have turned out well.

Have they done any work? Let's go back and find out.

Back now to Morden, in Surrey,

where this rundown house was bought by Yayin for 281,000.

So, why have you decided to put both of your heads

together on a project like this?

We actually came together five years ago with a mutual

interest in a property in Stoke.

Certain aspects of our personalities

have prevented us forming a formal partnership.

They planned to build four semidetached houses on the plot,

but the planners had different ideas.

The compromise was to extend the existing

house into a four-bedroom detached dwelling.

Last time we saw them,

they were 11 months into the build and it was still not finished.

Now five months further on, we are back,

and it's finished!

But was the work done within the £280,000 estimated budget?

I totally spent about 325,000 to finish off the works in the house.

That was including the extension to the house

and the detached garage as well.

The remarkable thing is that, apart from the new garage and extension to

the right of the house, everything else has the old house at its heart.

There are some clues - three small windows above the lean-to

extension reveal the roots of the house.

The old house had to stay because we didn't have planning to

actually bring the old house down,

but all we did was use the old house as it was and then

knocked down all the sidewall where we were doing the extension to it.

And then renovated all the brickwork to a fresh new

brickwork on the outside. So, basically,

we covered the existing old house with new brickwork all along.

# God bless you

# You make me feel brand-new

# For God blessed me with you... #

It's an incredible transformation.

And the side extension certainly adds significantly to the upstairs

and the downstairs square footage.

The only thing that is existing from the old house is pretty much

the perimeter of the house, which were the three walls.

The fourth wall has got to be knocked down because we added

an extension to the fourth side.

So, it started with the brick, with all the new brickwork,

new heating, new plumbing, new electrics.

The house didn't even have electric water or gas connections.

So, all of them we had to reinstate or apply for new

connections for every single thing, and all of them were new.

For Andrew, the new look didn't just end with the house itself.

I am most pleased with the grounds, actually.

You know, when we bought it,

the boundaries were a little bit sketchy.

Once they'd been established and sort of the landscaping has gone in,

I think the visuals of the property are far in excess

of what we ever anticipated.

And I think that's...

If I'm being mercenary, that has added value to it as well.

Which was just a hidden gem, really. We never anticipated that.

And they never anticipated planning taking so long either.

The original timescale for the four semis was approximately six months.

We now double that and when we last saw it inside,

the utility and kitchen looked like this.

So, has it and worth the wait?

# Cos I will wait I will wait for you...

The kitchen boasts high-spec granite worktops.

# I will wait I will wait for you

# And I will wait I will wait for you

As does the front-of-house utility.

# And I will wait I will wait for you

The bright, spacious hallway has an under stairs loo.

# I will wait I will wait for you

The lounge, too, is fitted to a very high specification.

# And I will wait I will wait for you

The family and dining room has patio doors to the rear.

# I will wait I will wait for you... #

At the top of the stairs,

the family bathroom on the left is fitted with high quality units.

All the bedrooms have fitted, mirrored wardrobes.

The one Andrew favours as the master bedroom has ensuite facilities,

too, as does the bedroom Yayin favours as the master.

# Cos I will wait I will wait for you... #

And the smaller bedrooms, with their built-in wardrobes,

are a reasonable size, too. So, was it worth the wait?

Was it worth the £281,000 paid at auction

and the £325,000 paid for refurbishing?

Well, there is only one way to find out.

You guessed it, we've invited two local estate agents round to

view the completed property and give us their thoughts.

It's a tough call, because there are no properties like this to

compare it with in the surrounding area.

Andrew and Yayin have created a one-off here.

So, Yayin paid 281,000 at auction.

And after the failed planning for four dwellings,

his only option was to extend and renovate the old house.

Will it meet the agents' approval?

I think the layout, done a really good job of it,

well-proportioned bedrooms, en suites upstairs,

good living space downstairs. It fits perfectly for the type of person

that would purchase this house.

The transformation since the actual first instance of viewing it

and knowing the building

very well from old is just tremendous.

Yayin and Andrew have always been clear that they wouldn't

consider renting the property out,

but let's find out if they are tempted now by the figures.

If they rent this house out, they'd be looking at about £2,000,

£2,500 per calendar month.

For a rental, this property would secure

a sum of circa £2,300 to £2,500 per month.

That would give Yayin

a yield on his investment of just over 4.5%.

How do they feel about that?

If they said double the amount for the rental, you know,

it still wouldn't be an option. We are committed to selling.

That was always the game plan, and it still is.

So, what is taken into account for getting a valuation for sale?

Is a unique home within its surroundings.

It is beautifully laid out

and the fact that it is detached is very unusual for this area.

This is a home for an owner-occupier,

somebody who's going to be quite discerning.

And as such, the standard needs to be extremely good.

Also the area is close to London, but it isn't in London,

so will the property command London prices?

Time to find out the agents' conclusions.

Remember, Yayin has spent £606,000 so far.

Will he be able to manage a margin in Morden?

In order to sell the property, the owner should market

for offers in excess of the figure of £950,000.

I think this house is worth £950,000 to £1,000,000.

That means Yayin could be in for a potential profit

of 356,000, minus taxes and fees.

Quite happy with what the values are.

We will have to see what it sells for,

but quite happy to see what they're saying.

Makes you realise it is worth going the extra mile by putting

the better spec in rather than just the off-the-counter stuff.

So, yeah, it's great to hear it.

But I reckon Yayin could have got a possible extra £90,000

profit if he had built the four houses he was planning to.

So, have there been lessons learned?

The main thing is, we should have approached local planners before,

and we have taken their advice. But it was a gamble.

That's right, it was a gamble.

And, you know, you've got to bear mind that with auction properties,

you don't often have the time to get the answers back from the relevant

planners before the day of the sale. So you do have to go to a degree

of relying on gut feeling and if you think it's going to go right.

And, yeah, you go out with your ideas of where you wanted to be.

But sometimes, as in this case, it doesn't happen.

But, you know, we are still happy with what we've got.

In Whitehaven, on the Cumbrian coast, we met John, who also

was very happy with what he got when he bought this two-bed mid-terrace.

He paid £35,000 at auction as a joint project with former

work colleague Alan.

And they hope that with £15,000 and a three-month timescale,

they could refurbish it and turn it around for the resale market.

And they weren't hanging around, because when we saw it, a few weeks

after completion on the auction purchase, work was well under way.

Ah.

Well, it would have been nice to have a floor.

Yes, lacking in floors, damp proofing, central heating...

Well, let's face it, most things that make a house a home.

So, it was clear Alan and John weren't holding back.

This was going to be a comprehensive refurbishment.

So, tell me about you two, then.

I came to work at the same place as you. And we got put

together on the maintenance.

Break times became our chats about doing houses like these.

It took us six years to get there, mind, talking about it,

doing a lot of research on it.

And we just never had that jump in us to take it on.

So, after six years, it seemed like now was there a moment.

# Go ahead and try now

# Or how you gonna find out

# That life has got predictable

# Go on, do something wonderful

# The first step is the hardest

# You'll be safe without a harness

# So jump...

So, having finally taking the leap,

did they crash down to earth?

Well, 10.5 months later, we're back to find out.

# If the thought is terrifying

# The risk is really frightening

# There's no need to play it safe

# Just take a leap of faith

# And jump

# Oh-oh

# You should leave without a warning

# And jump, fly

# Let your feet leave the ground

# Step into the sky

# And jump, high...

Well, the property has certainly jumped up a notch or two.

And nowhere more so than in the kitchen.

# Without a harness, so jump. #

Well, the kitchen. We had a bit of a problem down this side with

the room for the cupboards

because originally we had a window on the left-hand side,

which would have stopped us putting our cooker hood up,

so we decided to put a bigger window on the right,

lets a lot of light in.

And we've a little utility around the back with a toilet

and a hand basin and a worktop.

Downstairs is now looking great,

but what about upstairs and that slightly odd layout with

the bathroom only accessible through the bedroom?

Well, not only have they fully refurbished everything,

by clever re-jigging the larger room,

they have given both bedrooms, in effect, an en-suite.

Well, this is my favourite part of the redevelopment.

When we came, we realised it was a nice,

big bedroom and there was plenty of room to create an en-suite.

So this is what we did - made it a good size,

put quality fittings in.

Anybody that comes and sees it says, "Wow, this is really nice."

That was the idea we wanted -

to create a wow factor that people will be pleased with.

I just keep wanting to jump in there myself, but I better not.

# You know these arms can bring you up

# Jump for my love! #

Well, he certainly jumped in feet first with this house.

But all that hard work seems like it has paid off.

Two ensuite bedrooms in a mid-terraced house,

including a new toilet at the end of the kitchen.

I think that is going to impress in the resale market,

along with all the other improvements inside and out.

Out the back, where we've done a bit of work on the wall,

the boundary wall between the property and the allotment.

It was all pulled over, so we built our wall up there.

And then we had a neighbour to see if we could do theirs, which we did.

And then another neighbour asked if we could carry it on

and finish their wall off as well. Which we did.

Which wasn't bad, cos it worked out well

cos we got a bit of money in the old pocket as well.

And finally, we've got our project mascot, Nobby,

which has helped us through the project.

When we were getting down, we looked at Nobby's smiling face

and he cheered us on to get it finished, really.

So he's staying there now, permanently.

# I want to tell you a story

# About a little man

# If I can

# A no-named grimble grumble... #

RECORD SCRATCH

No, he's called Nobby, and you're best not to upset him.

Whilst the mascot of the walls is going up outside,

inside some of the walls were coming down.

We started off by thinking that wall would only need to be patched

and we can skim that one.

And as days went on, you know, he'd come at night

and I'd have demolished another wall.

So, a lot of work went into getting the walls sorted.

He was doing the demolishing and I was doing the rebuilding.

All this extra work has meant their timescale

slipped from the planned three months to 10.5 months.

But this was their first property project together.

And not only were they learning new skills,

Alan had to learn to work with John.

So, what was that like?

Be careful.

At times, he takes a bit too long thinking about jobs,

whereas I like to just get in and get it done.

So then I end up taking over him and doing it myself.

-Really, don't we?

-Yeah.

-But apart from that, we get on well.

The partnership seems intact, but the budget isn't.

Originally, they thought £10,000 to £15,000, but they've spent 27,000.

Added to the £35,000 purchase price,

this takes their total investment to £62,000.

So, has their long-awaited jump into the property development

business been a good move?

What do two local estate agents think?

Well, this one is a good little house.

The attention to detail is good.

Internal doors are of a good standard.

Kitchen is nice and modern. It fits with this type of property

and its target market.

I think it's been extensively refurbished

and upgraded to a very good specification.

OK, so good, positive comments.

But what about the financial returns on a house that has cost

a total of £62,000, including refurbishment?

If the owners were to put it on the open market today,

then I would expect them to get a price of £75,000.

I'd place this property on the market at just under £80,000.

And I'd expect to get between £75,000 and £77,000.

Mm. So that could be a pre-tax profit of £13,000 to £18,000.

What do John and Alan make of that?

-It's a lot less than we thought.

-Lot less than we worked on.

We worked on a final figure of about 85.

But we've had someone else come on in and they're going to put

it on at 99,950 to take 95.

They might be disappointed

with the agents' figures, but in fact, the good news for John

and Alan is they've now sold the house for £90,000,

giving a healthy pre-tax profit of £28,000.

So, what's next?

Back to the auction and get another one.

-Yeah.

-And go again.

-It's definitely something I'd like to do again.

I've been doing it part-time on this one and really enjoyed it,

so I think, hopefully, if we can get another in pretty quick,

I'm going at it full-time and turn it over a lot quicker and go again.

Great, so John and Alan will be back building soon.

But Nobby the gnome has been cemented into the wall.

Will the new buyers want to keep him?

You can answer that, Alan.

Well, that was my idea, so hopefully,

they'll keep it there, cos it's part of the feature.

It goes with the background, so, hopefully...

It's not your cup of tea, but it's mine, so I hope it stays.

Great, Nobby's gnome from home.

# Then one day, hooray

# Another way for gnome's to say

# Hooray! #

Well, that's it for today's show.

Did we inspire you or put you off trying it for yourself?

Look forward to seeing you next time for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-We'll see you then.

-BOTH: Goodbye.